ESA Press Release September 24, 2008

ESA Workshop Integrates Education into Continental-Scale Ecology Experiments

Overview

This fall, the Ecological Society of America will offer an exciting new opportunity for undergraduate educators to explore approaches to teaching using large volumes of data on a continental-scale. This pilot workshop is part of ESA’s proposal to introduce the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) to the education community in two phases. In Phase 1, data on land use change and climate change will be made available to faculty for discussion and analysis. Undergraduate educators will receive guidance on student-active methods that will stimulate student participation in the scientific process, using real data, even in situations where fieldwork is not feasible. Phase 2 will focus on undergraduate students. We plan to engage the faculty participating in Phase 1 as mentors to undergraduate students as they develop (a) ideas for student research projects on a continental scale and (b) ways in which undergraduate students can collaborate to advance these research projects and generate new research ideas.

NEON

The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) will enormously expand the potential and the opportunities for continental-scale research. Since its inception, education has been conceived as a primary benefit of the NEON infrastructure. It will provide a unique opportunity for the education community to teach ecology at larger spatial and temporal scales than possible through traditional field experiences. The availability and quantity of raw NEON data will offer an unprecedented opportunity for students at small undergraduate institutions to work with real data from the forefront of ecological research either as classroom exercises or through independent research projects. Collaboration between scientists at different institutions and across disciplines will be critical skills of future ecologists. Cyberinfrastructure development will provide the tools that make such large-scale working partnerships not only possible, but practical.

Workshop Participants

This pilot project will bring together 20 undergraduate faculty to inform and shape NEON cyberinfrastructure that will support innovative undergraduate education with a continental perspective. All of the participating faculty are either from small undergraduate institutions or are minority-serving institutions. The workshop will generate feedback from faculty on needs, perceived obstacles, and recommendations on how to coordinate collaborative research at the undergraduate level.

Future Opportunities

Future projects growing out of the workshop are expected to incorporate technological features, tools, and skills useful in facilitating data collection and analysis and ideas that will establish the foundations for collaborative teaching, learning and undergraduate involvement in research on a continental scale. Further, with SEEDS faculty and students involved, we anticipate that future projects will engage a high degree of participation from underrepresented students in the ecological sciences.